The story behind this model started few years ago, at my first business trip to United States. My trip lated for a little bit less than two weeks, so I had to find something to do during the weekends. One of the guys I’ve worked with was originally from Israel, and he and his family moved to california when he was 4 years old. When he heard that I’ve got no plans for the weekend, he invited me to a Friday’s dinner at his parents house.

His father, as it seems, is an engineer, and played a lot with laser cuts. After dinner he gave me this metal cube, with something stuck in the middle and asked me: “How did I put it in there?”

After few minutes of struggling with the cube, I’ve decided there is no possible way to get it out. Then he said that I’m right. He hasn’t put this object in the middle, It was always there. It’s a part of the cube before the cut that simply remained in place.

When I left, He gave me this little cube as a gift. And every now and then, When a friend comes, I ask him: “How did I put this thing inside the cube?” and watch them struggle for a while.

Today, After I’ve found out about Shapeways, I decided it shall be my first item. So, I’ve modeled it as a key chain, and I’ve even ordered four of those (from different materials).

For a long time, I wanted to build my own 3D printer. I’m not really sure what I will print with it, but I think it will be really cool to build one from scratch.

Today I’ve done some researching and found out which type I would like to build, and than I’ve heard the price for the material (200$ a liter… WTF?!).

During my research, I’ve came across Shapeways.Shapeways is a cool site which allows you to upload your own models and print them with verity of materials including plastic, bronze, silver, stainless steel and more.
But one of the main features they’ve got, Shapeways allows you to share your models with others so they will be able to print them. You can even create an online store using Shapeways, and name a price for each material so you will be able to earn some cash that way.

Currently I’ve made only two models, One of them is a basic (and a bit ugly) Pawn, and the other is a key chain element which I will describe in another post.

I haven’t given up on the idea of building my own printer yet. But for meanwhile, this is a cool service.